Who is happy?

Dennis Prager wrote a commentary recently on happiness, a topic he has written about several times. Here are the qualities he thinks makes for happy people.

• People who control themselves.
• People who are given little and earn what they have.
• People who do not see themselves or their group as victims.
• People who rarely complain.
• People who have close friends.
• People who are in a good marriage.
• People who act happy.
• People who aren’t envious.
• People who don’t have high self-esteem.
• People who have few expectations.
• People who are grateful.

His article expands these statements.

Reasonable suggestions. Several are related such as gratitude and lack of complaining, the former can lead to the latter. Having few expectations can arise from contentment which tends to deflect envy. This list reinforces C.S. Lewis' claim that happiness is not obtained if sort directly, but happiness is secondary, resulting from pursuing other things.